Lk.St.ClairYaker wrote:Ok I am fairly new to the site and read all the above paragraphs and have some questions. Is there different challenges you can join or is this just one contest? And when do they start? Any help or info would be appreciated. Sorry for the stupid questions.
Not stupid questions; glad you asked. Challenges run almost monthly throughout the year. Each Challenge is a different event, so if you have a busy month where you can't put much time on the water, you aren't done for the year. However, EACH Challenge has a different identifier, so you can't submit the same fish (with same identifier) into multiple challenges. The individual challenge identifier is posted the night prior to the Challenge starting, which prevents someone from catching a hawg three days before the Challenge starts, and then waiting until the Challenge opens to submit the fish. You can either sign up for the individual challenges one at a time, or save some "coin" and buy a BassPass, which prepays all of the Challenge entrys for the year, for a discounted price. IF you really intend to compete, a BassPass is the way to go. Each individual Challenge has a different "theme" and a different Grand Prize. In the past we have had a sping event called Ride in the Rain, and the Grand Prize was a Wildy Ride, another was the Tarpon and Two Lips...and the prize was a Wildy Tarpon. All of the Challenges acrue points for the Angler of the Year, and the standings for AoY, as well as the individual Challenge winners qualify for the Invitational.
Normally, they would have already started, but the efforts involved with the KBF Open and Invitational have delayed the Challenge Series. Sort of like B.A.S.S. and the Classic; they battle all year to get a berth in the Classic which is held the following year in February. After the Classic is over, the "season" begins anew. I imagine that is what Chad is trying to emmulate with the KBF Open/Invitational.
And no, I don't fish the Challenges. I choose not to as a member of the ProStaff/Crew; I don't want somebody thinking they don't have a shot because they are competing against ProStaffers (kind of dumb, KBF is filled with a bunch of very good anglers), although we are not prohibited from doing so. Maybe I just don't want to get smoked!
